Romans
1:20-21 “For God’s invisible
attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been
made.
For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to
Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were
darkened.”
God
revealed Himself so clearly in the natural order that no person will ever be
able to stand before the Creator and claim that there is insufficient evidence
that He exists and should be worshiped. This is the reason why our small group
bible Study spent time exploring the countless evidence of God’s Creation in
nature. To put it simply, we receive enough truth about God in natural
revelation to know He is there; however we do not receive enough information to
be saved. This article on revelation of God points out that Paul tells us that
when sinners come into contact with God’s revelation of Himself in nature, they
suppress the truth they have received. Without
faith in Christ, when fallen people study God’s creation, they become futile
(useless, fruitless and ineffectual) in
their thinking and their hearts are darkened. They do not honor the Lord or give thanks to Him.
Romans
1:22-23a,25 “Although they
claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal
God. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served
created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen.
What
is more, they exchanged the truth that they have seen in the created order for
a lie – they engaged in all manner of false religion and idolatry, worshiping
the creature rather than the Creator. In sum, sinners who encounter natural
revelation apart from grace and God’s revealing His plan of salvation make God
in their own image, and they refuse to worship the only Lord of all. The idolatry
that results when unregenerate people receive natural revelation is not the
fault of natural revelation. Instead, it is the fault of the sin and unbelief
that pervades fallen human beings. Natural revelation is insufficient for
salvation, but God never intended it as a means of salvation. Instead, the
point of natural revelation is to show people truth about the Lord so that they
can see the truth about themselves, namely that they are sinners in need of
salvation. You cannot be found and saved until you know that you are lost. But
it takes more than natural revelation in order for people to be redeemed.
Romans
3:22-25 “The righteousness
from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no
difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, though faith in His blood.
We
can appeal to natural revelation to show people certain truths about God’s
character and even to prove that they have violated the moral law that He has
placed on the consciences of all people. However, no one will be saved only by
looking at natural revelation. We must preach the gospel of salvation through
Jesus Christ – giving men and women the truth of special revelation – or they
cannot be saved from the wrath of God.
John
3:36 “Whoever believes in
the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for
God’s wrath remains on them.
Let’s
continue this message on revelation of God in the next post.
In
Christ, Brian
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